Electricity System Operator Reports $80M Loss After Accounting Change

There’s been a setback in the provincial government’s effort to ease the upward pressure on electricity rates.

In the government’s public accounts for 2015-16, the Independent Electricity System Operator reported a “previously unrecognized actuarial loss and past service costs” of just over $80 million.

The provincial agency which oversees Ontario’s electricity market says it will recover the losses by raising fees it charges the power industry as part of its accumulated deficit charge.

The $80 million loss was discovered by Progressive Conservative researchers in the public accounts, and they plan to raise the issue in the legislature Tuesday. The Tories point out the loss more than offsets the $70 million the Liberals said would be saved over seven years under Ontario’s new deal to purchase two terawatt hours of electricity annually from Quebec.

The Liberals are also removing the eight per cent provincial portion of the HST from electricity bills, and scrapping plans for more wind and solar power projects.